IFIP Working Conference on Domain Specific Languages (DSL WC)
July 15-17, 2009, Oxford
CALL FOR PAPERS
Domain-specific languages are emerging as a fundamental component of
software engineering practice. DSLs are often introduced when new
domains such as web-scripting or markup come into existence, but it is
also common to see DSLs being introduced and adopted for traditional
domains such as parsing and data description. Developing software
using DSLs has many benefits. DSLs are often designed based on
existing notations that are already in use by experts in a given
domain. As such, successful DSLs often reduce or eliminate the effort
needed to transform the concept or innovation produced by the domain
expert into an executable artifact or even a deliverable software
product. DSL implementations can capture and mechanize a significant
portion of the repetitive and mechanical tasks that a domain expert
traditionally needed to perform in order to produce an executable.
DSLs can in many cases capture and make widely available special
expertise that only top specialists in a given domain might have. By
capturing expert knowledge and reducing repetitive tasks, DSLs often
also lead to software that is significantly more portable, more
reliable and more understandable than it would otherwise be.
DSLs can be viewed as having a dual role to general-purpose languages:
whereas general purpose languages try to do everything as well as
possible, DSLs are designed to find a domain where they can solve some
class of problems -- no matter how small -- in the best possible way.
Widely known examples of DSLs include Matlab, Verilog, SQL, LINQ,
JavaScript, PERL, HTML, Open GL, Tcl/Tk, Macromedia Director,
Mathematica/Maple, AutoLisp/AutoCAD, XSLT, RPM, Make, lex/yacc, LaTeX,
PostScript, Excel, among many others. But while these tools have been
widely successful, they still fall short of realizing the full idea
behind them. The goal of this conference is to explore the extent to
which incorporating modern principles of language design and software
engineering can benefit existing and future domain-specific languages.
The ultimate goal of using DSLs is to improve programmer productivity
and software quality. Often, this is achieved by reducing the cost of
initial software development as well as maintenance costs. These
improvements - programs being easier to write and maintain -
materialize as a result of domain-specific guarantees, analyses,
testing techniques, verification techniques, and optimizations.
* Paper Criteria
Papers are sought addressing the research problems, fundamental
principles, and practical techniques of DSLs, including but not
limited to:
- Foundations, including semantics, formal methods, type
theory, and complexity theory
- Language design, ranging from concrete syntax to semantic and
typing issues
- Software engineering, including domain analysis, software
design, and round-trip engineering
- Software processes, including metrics for software and
language evaluation
- Implementation techniques, including parsing, compiling, and
program generation
- Program analysis and automated transformation
- Reverse engineering, re-engineering, design discovery,
automated refactoring
- Hardware/software codesign
- Programming environments, including visual languages,
debuggers, and testing infrastructure
- Teaching DSLs and the use of DSLs in teaching
- Case studies, including engineering, bioinformatics, hardware
specification languages, parallel computing languages, real-time and
embedded systems, and networked and distributed domains
Papers will be judged on the depth of their insight and the extent to
which they translate specific experience into general lessons for
domain-specific language designers and implementers, and software
engineers. Papers can range from the practical to the theoretical;
where appropriate, they should refer to actual languages, tools, and
techniques, provide pointers to full definitions and implementations,
and include empirical data on results.
* Important Dates
- December 14th, 2008: Abstract submission due. Firm, will not
have any extensions
- December 21st, 2008: Paper submission deadline. Firm, will
not have any extensions
- February 23rd, 2009: Author notification of decisions
- March 22nd, 2009: Camera ready manuscripts due
* Program Committee
- Jon Bentley, Avayalabs
- Martin Erwig, Oregon State University
- Jeff Gray, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Robert Grimm, New York University
- Jim Grundy, Intel Strategic CAD Labs
- Tom Henzinger, EPFL
- Sam Kamin, UIUC
- Dick Kieburtz, Portland State University
- Ralf Lämmel, University of Koblenz
- Julia Lawall, University of Copenhagen
- Benjamin Pierce, University of Pennsylvania
- Vivek Sarkar, Rice University
- Jeremy Siek, University of Colorado at Boulder
- José Nuno Oliveira, University of Minho
- Doaitse Swierstra, Utrecht University
- Walid Taha (Chair), Rice University
- Eelco Visser, Delft University
- William Waite, University of Colorado at Boulder
- Stephanie Weirich, University of Pennsylvania
* Organizers
- General Chair: Jeremy Gibbons, Oxford University
- Publicity Chair: Emir Pasalic, LogicBlox